For a second, Spade just stared at Denise's hands. He'd never seen such a thing before, not in all his centuries. Then the panicked, horrified expression on her face snapped him into action.

He yanked his coat off, wrapping her hands in them, catching the spare drops of blood that dripped out after those gruesome nails punctured her skin. He couldn't risk anyone coming across her blood and finding out it was a drug. Then he swept Denise up in his arms. She was still staring at her hands even though they were now bundled in his coat. Her whole body trembled and harsh gasps came out of her. She was in shock, he realized. Little wonder; the sight of her hands had shocked him, and they weren't sprouting from the ends of his arms.

Spade carried her inside, whispering soothing nonsense more to distract her than in any belief that what he said would make her feel better. Second floor, third door on the left, Ian had said. Spade took the stairs three at a time and went into the third room he came to, kicking it closed. Then he sat on the bed, holding Denise, still whispering a string of comforting promises he had no idea if he'd be able to keep.

He was glad when she burst into tears, because it meant the shock had worn off. He'd been worried this last thing might break Denise. There was only so much one person could take, after all, and it had just been last week he thought she'd snapped from stress, before he knew about her demon brands and the threat to her family. Christ, if he were Denise, he'd weep, too. And possibly stake himself.

Spade held her tighter, leaning back on the bed, pulling the blanket around them since she was still shivering. He shifted to curl his body closer around hers. Her head was tucked against his chest, hiding her face, and her shoulders shook with sobs she was now trying to choke back.

He wished he could do something more for her than the pitiful comfort he was providing. Had he helped her at all since she came to him? It didn't feel like it, and her hands certainly seemed to be damning evidence of his failure. What part of Denise would pay next if he continued to fail, warped into monstrosity by the demon's essence continuing to grow inside her?

I won't let that happen, Spade promised himself, his arms tightening around her. Her wretched relative Nathanial had found a way to defeat Raum for several generations. Spade was a centuries-old Master vampire; he'd be damned if he'd fall short where a human had succeeded.

"It will be all right," he told Denise, and meant it this time.

She made what sounded like a gasping snort. "You've got a delusional sense of optimism, you know that?"

Brave, lovely, stubborn Denise, making a joke when she should be senseless with horror over her circumstances. Spade laughed even as something clicked in his heart that he knew would be permanent. This wasn't just lust he felt. It went so much deeper than that.

"It's my secret shame," he told her, brushing his lips across her hair and not caring that it shouldn't feel as right as it did.

She sighed, a choppy, hoarse sound. Her previous shaking had faded to a recurring shiver and her sobs had been replaced with a slight hiccup. Spade marveled that it was less than ten minutes since she'd first seen her hands. Bloody strong woman.

"That's one coat, two shirts, a house, and a boat I've cost you," she muttered. "God, Spade, save yourself. Walk away."

He leaned back against the high headboard, still keeping his arms around her. "No."

"This isn't your - "

"Could you argue with me later, darling? I'm rather knackered now."

So saying, he closed his eyes, silently willing her not to keep battling him - and not to get up, either. He wanted to keep holding her like this. It was the source of the most contentment he'd felt in over a century, though he'd also told the truth about being tired. The sun was high and he hadn't slept aside from a couple of hours knocked unconscious from blood loss and drugs. Denise also had to be exhausted. She hadn't slept at all after he'd drained her blood and then Raum performed his evil workings on her.

She didn't say anything. Spade waited, inwardly tense even though his limbs were loose. She still had her face ducked against his chest, her mahogany-colored hair spilling across him, her hands still wrapped in his coat under the blanket. The minutes began to tick by, but she remained quiet, and she didn't try to leave. Gradually, her breathing lost the congested irregularity from her previous tears to become slow and even.

He didn't fully relax until he knew she was asleep. Then he allowed himself to drift off, one arm still wrapped around her, his other hand cupping her head to his chest.

Denise stretched, yawning, her eyes still closed. The big, hard body next to hers shifted, pulling her closer while murmuring something unintelligible. She wrapped herself around him before her slowly returning consciousness took note of the situation.

You're in bed with Spade.

Denise's eyes flew open. Spade's face was only inches away, his arms encircling her, his legs tangled in hers. That was the good news. The bad news was that her breasts were pressed against his chest and his thigh rested between her legs, snug against her crotch. She couldn't be closer to him unless they were welded together, and the tangle of blankets around them said they'd been like this for a while.

Spade was still asleep. Even though her heart began to thump at their intimate proximity, she couldn't help but take a moment to stare. His hair was so black against his pale skin, several long locks falling over his cheek. His brows were equally dark and thick, curving over closed eyes that were framed by sooty, long lashes. His nose was a straight bridge between two high cheekbones, his mouth full enough to be sexy, and strong enough to be nothing but masculine.

Denise remembered what those firm, supple lips felt like pressed to her forehead. Then how his mouth had felt when he'd trailed it over her neck so sensually and thoroughly before he'd bitten her, and a long-denied ache began to throb within her. She was seized with an overwhelming desire to kiss him, to know what those lips would feel like against her mouth.

Spade's eyes opened, startling her, because not a muscle on him had moved before in warning. Denise jerked back guiltily, afraid he'd know either from her scent or from her expression what she'd been thinking, but his arms hardened, preventing her escape. She was caught between hoping he'd let her go and hoping he wouldn't as she stared at him, trapped inside the circle of his arms. Spade's eyes began to fill up green. His lips parted, showing the tips of fangs...and it only made the throbbing heat inside her grow.

Did he want her, too? Or were those signs of hunger of a different nature? After all, how could he want a demonically deformed human -

Denise gasped as her gaze settled on her hands, freed from Spade's coat sometime while she'd slept. Gone were the hideously long fingers and clawlike nails. They were hers again. Normal.

"Spade, look!" she exclaimed, waving her hands between them.

His eyes turned back to their natural tiger-colored shade and he let her go, sitting up to examine her hands.

"It's as if nothing ever happened to them," he said musingly, turning them over in his grip.

Relief flooded through her so completely, she almost felt dizzy. A wide smile broke across her face. She wasn't a monster. Not yet. There was still time to save her family and herself.

And at the same time, her stomach let out a yowl that extended into an ominous-sounding roar. Spade's brow lifted and his mouth twitched.

"Perhaps it's time to get you something to eat."

An hour later, Denise cleared her third plate, ignoring Ian, who watched her with a sort of mystified fascination.

"Where do you put it?" he finally asked, his turquoise gaze sliding over her. "Or are you one of those lasses who vomits?"

She shot him a glare, but didn't answer. Maybe one day, she'd ask Spade how he ever came to be friends with someone like Ian. If Ian had another side in addition to rude schmuck, she hadn't seen it yet.

Still, even he couldn't ruin her mood. She looked at her hands again as she took another forkful of food. She'd never thought the sight of them, with her right finger slightly crooked from being broken as a child and her nails perpetually chewed off, would make her so happy.

Spade came back into the kitchen. He'd been booking their flight and rental car, though they'd still stay tonight at Ian's. With her improved mood, that didn't even bother her anymore.

"Ah, and here's Baron DeMortimer again," Ian said, twirling his wineglass. Something thick and red was in it. Denise had been telling herself it was wine so as not to be grossed out.

Spade's mouth tightened at the mention of his former title. "We're set to leave in the morning," he told Denise.

She glanced at the window. Ian didn't have a clock nearby, but it was very dark out. Morning could only be a few hours away.

Ian winced. "Traveling so close to dawn? You must be in quite the hurry to find your illicit drug."

That note of challenge was in his voice. Denise ignored it. Ian was fishing for information, but he wasn't going to get it from her.

Spade ignored it, too. He went to the seat next to her, sitting with an effortless grace that looked like his body somehow poured itself into the chair. His fingers idly tapped on the edge of the counter while his dark eyes watched her.

"Finished?"

Denise glanced down. Oh, so her plate was empty again - and a fourth one really would be pushing it.

"Yes."

She rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher, gritting her teeth at Ian's comment that he had other humans who could do that. But she didn't snap back a caustic reply, reminding herself that they were leaving soon and Ian would only enjoy her display of temper anyway.

It wasn't until Spade closed the bedroom door behind him that Denise concerned herself with what the next few hours might bring, with the two of them alone in a room and her attraction to Spade growing more obvious by the minute.

Randy. Thinking of him made her feel both wistful and guilty. She still loved Randy, still missed him, but somehow Spade had gotten under her skin in a way she didn't seem to be able to hide. Yes, it had been a long time since she'd had sex, but Spade wasn't the first attractive man she'd been around. Why was he the one who stirred her so intensely? Why did she feel so drawn to him, both physically and emotionally?

Denise's heart started to race. What if Spade wanted her, too? If the other times he'd stared at her with heat in his eyes, it hadn't been bloodlust? Spade disdained relationships with humans, but he admitted to having sex with them. Could she do that? Sleep with a vampire who thought her humanity made her unworthy of anything more than casual sex? The idea was insulting.

And yet could she say no if Spade started to touch her the way he had in the park? To kiss more than her throat with that knowing, passionate mouth? She'd had a hard time controlling her cravings lately when it came to food. Would this craving prove more powerful than her pride, how she missed Randy, and her intention to leave everything supernatural behind once she got these brands off?

Denise didn't want to find out. "I think the food upset my stomach," she lied, and rushed to the safety of the bathroom.

Spade waited until they were well into their flight before he told Denise about their change in plans. She'd been antsy enough once she saw they weren't flying commercial, but a twin-engine prop plane instead. No need to upset her with the rest of the itinerary before she needed to know about it.

"We're not going to Vegas. We're going to your parents' house in Virginia," he told her.

Denise looked stunned. "Why?"

"They're your closest family, and I don't fancy taking Raum at his word that he won't kill one of them in an attempt to motivate you to greater speed. Demons aren't trustworthy, to say the least."

"But we can't tell my parents about this. My parents aren't in the best of health, not to mention they know nothing about vampires, demons, or anything paranormal."

Spade waved a hand. "Nor shall they. You'll introduce me as your new beau and tell them the good news that you're sending them on a cruise."

Denise simply stared at him for a second. "My parents are Jewish, and my aunt and cousins just died within a few weeks of each other. They're not going to go on a cruise; they'll barely be done sitting shiva!"

"They'll go once I'm done changing their minds - and before you protest, what is more important? Their lives, or your aversion to me using mind control on them?"

Her mouth opened and closed, as if she was about to start several arguments but then discarded each one. Spade watched in amusement despite the seriousness of the topic. She looked quite fetching that way.

"All right," she said finally. "I don't like it, but you're right. Their safety is more important."

One potential argument averted, now on to what would really upset her.

"In case Raum isn't following you through your brands, it's important we throw him off from tracking us the normal way," Spade said, unclipping his seat belt. "Which is why we won't be on this plane when it lands."

"What?" Denise gasped, looking around in sudden agitation. "No way. I'm afraid of heights. If you think I can strap on a parachute and go skydiving, you're crazy. I'll puke and then pass out before I can even pull the cord."

Spade didn't say anything, but the look on his face - and the lack of any parachutes on the plane - must have clued her in.

"Oh hell no," she said, whitening.

"It's the best way to find out if Raum is lying about the brands," Spade replied, unclipping her seat belt even though she smacked at his hands. "I've already tranced the pilots into believing we were on the plane the whole time and then disembarked with them in Vegas. And you don't have to fret about pulling a cord with me."

Denise didn't look comforted in the least. "You're out of your mind! Splattering on the ground won't kill you, sure, but I'll be nothing more than a stain wherever I land!"

"I won't let you splatter," he said, picking her up when she clung to the seat in refusal. "We have to do it now; we're flying over the right area."

"This is too much," she argued as he dragged her over to the door, sliding it open and bracing them both in the sudden vacuum of wind. "Don't do this, Spade, don't do this - "

"Hang on to me and close your eyes," he replied, settling his arms around her.

Denise cursed him, but she grabbed him with the hold of the damned. The co-pilot stood, ready to close the door behind them and then forget about their jump, just as Spade had instilled in him earlier.

Spade looked at the hazy ground below them, seek ing the natural landmark that would confirm their location. Denise's heart hammered against his chest, her scent of fear enveloping him and her breathing so accelerated, he wished she hadn't made him swear a blood oath against trancing her.

Once he found what he was looking for, Spade pulled Denise tighter to him and jumped out of the plane.